Happy New Year!! 2013

Happy New Year!!! 2013

All of us at Cecilia's Samplers want to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year!! We thank you very much for your support of our shop, website and retreats - we appreciate all of you very much!!
2013 Is going to be a very exciting year for us! It is our 10th year in business and we have lots of surprises coming up during this new year. We have grown our shop, website and retreats over the past 10 years and we couldn't have done it with out you!!
Sorry for not posting since July (really?? July??)............I guess time flies when you are having fun!
We have so many new items coming into the shop...........Blue Ribbon Designs Mystery Sampler, Country Cottage's Santa's Village, and Little House Needleworks' Sheep Virtues, just to name a few. Any of you Hawk Run Hollow fans?? Spring at Hawk Run Hollow will be here soon......just in time for spring stitching!
We also have hundreds of pounds of new yarns coming into the shop - sock yarns, baby yarns, wools, silks, cottons - beautiful colors and textures. And, yes we have the frilly scarf yarns, laces and ribbons, too!!

For those of you that are Crewel fans..........we have gotten a line of crewel kits that are really beautiful!! Tatting is making a comeback - we have new tatting books and vibrant threads to make your tatting even more pretty.

 

I am adding some pictures of my Grandkids ,visiting with Santa (Jessica is also there as Katey and Alice are not too sure of Santa!!) and Tyler and Andrew also enjoyed visiting with Santa!!

Katey and Alice in Grandma's sewing room - having a good time in the rocking chair!

 

Got to get going............we are looking forward to a wonderful year!! Thanks again for your support - we couldn't do it without you!!

 

Enjoy your needlework!!

Cecilia's Samplers

Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Holly, Ann, Krista and Cecilia

beads, beads, beads!!!

Lizzie Kate Halloween Mystery Sampler

My first beaded /perforated paper project!

Finally framed Margaret Cottam Sampler

We are taking pre orders for the JCS Christmas Ornament issue!!

As a shop owner, I do alot of stitching of models for the shop. All of us at the shop make our models and we usually do a design or type of needlework that we enjoy. I had really wanted to try a Mill Hill Button and Bead kit on perforated paper. i chose a Christmas design. Had never done one before,and now I am hooked!!! After you get the cross stitching done, then the fun starts as you add the sparkling beads and your stitching takes on a dimentional, twinkling look!! It was something so different for me to stitch - I am usually the sampler stitcher - and it was really alot of fun!! So sometime, try to stitch something completely different from your usual choices.......you never know - it could become your new "favorite" type of stitching .
We will be having our Summer Stitching retreat next week. The featured designers will be the gals from Cherry Wood Designs!! Holly has been working on planning this weekend for quite a while. She has been packing up lots of goodies to take to the hotel for our guests to enjoy!! We've got door prizes, raffles, games and lots and lots of stitching time!! I will post some pictures - our theme is a summer beach party!!
Got to get going - hope you are all "staying cool" in this very warm Summer season. Enjoy your stitching!
Margaret and the crew at Cecilia's Samplers

God Bless America!! Happy 4th of July!!

All of us at Cecilia's Samplers want to wish you a Happy 4th of July!! We hope you enjoy your day whether it be at a cook out, the beach, watching fireworks, or just enjoying the day stitching. We want to say a huge "Thank You" to everyone in our military, and their families for their service and sacrifices that they make to protect us all and preserve our freedom. Please take a moment to remember them in your thoughts and prayers today.

 

I know of a particular veteran I would like to mention today - my Dad, Andrew Rekowski. He enlisted in World War II  - in the Navy - He is one of the few WWII "Tin Can Sailors"still here with us. Dad is going to be 85 years young this November. He still works every day in our family business Ethel and Andy's Sandwich Shop in South Boston ,MA. He is also our "East Coast Public Relations Rep" for Cecilia's Samplers (which was named after his Mom). Dad has told me so many interesting events that he lived through in WWII. He traveled all over the world as a Tin Can Sailor, saw many exciting things and had some very scary experiences (well scary to me!!) as a sailor in WWII. Our whole family is very proud of my Dad - not only did he protect our country in WWII,  he still takes wonderful care of his family every day!! He took great care of my Mom for over 52 years - til she went to heaven in 2006. We are blessed to have him as our Dad, Grandpa and Great - Grandpa - We love you, Dad!!!

Fun with Pat Carson!!

Well, Summer is here!!! Hope you are enjoying the warm weather (and the lack of snow!!). We had a fantastic day with Pat Carson from Designs by Gloria and Pat, Inc when she came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. She was welcomed by several "fans" during the day, Pat kept busy teaching specialty stitches and how to thread a needle (the real easy way) and posing for pictures with our customers. It was so much fun to spend the day with Pat - she is truly a needlework treasure!!! We still have the finished samplers that Pat's girls from the Sisters helping Sisters Charity have stitched (they are wonderful stitchers!) and also beautiful needlework bags - all sales go to support the Sisters Helping Sisters Charity. Pat will be going back to the Phillipines soon and will be bringing us back some more exclusive and unique goodies to help support the Charity's good works!!! Can't wait to see what goodies she has coming for us next!!!
For your convenience, for the month of July, Cecilia's will be staying open until 7:00P.M. from Tuesday-Friday. Hope to see you come by and visit with us!!
Holly and I will be taking Cecilia's to Celebrations in St Charles, MO in September.......we are very excited about "taking the shop" to Celebrations and hope to see you there!! The classes that Celebrations offers are just awesome - teachers are great - it will be FUN, FUN, FUN!!!
Got to get going.........so many new things coming into the shop - have to help unpack the boxes. Watch for our annual model sale the first week of July........there will be sales in the shop too, models on sale and a SPECIAL trunk show by Moonlit Needleart - Pam is the owner and designer - her products range from beaded fobs, stitch markers, knitted hats, scarves - she has a beautiful assortment if items all ready made as well as giving you the option for custom made items!! Come by to see her and check out her great items!!
ok now I really gotta go ........I'll share some pictures of our day with Pat.
Take Care, Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Holly, Kacy, Pam and Ann

Welcome Pat Carson!! You are Invited!!!

I can't believe it is June already - 2012 is really speeding by fast!! Hope you all are having a good Spring and getting ready for Summer Fun!! We are honored to have Pat Carson from Designs by Gloria and Pat, Inc. coming to visit us this week. Pat will be here on Saturday for a day of fun!! She will be giving free cross stitch lessons, signing autographs, posing for pictures and bringing her 4 new Precious Moments books. They are check full of new designs that are so adorable - can't wait to start stitching them!! We will have some light refreshments, freebies and door prizes!! So come by on Saturday, June 9th to meet a true legend in the needlework industry!! It is always a wonderful time for us when Pat is here visiting. We also have her beautiful needlework bags, finished samplers and are introducing an exclusive "Friendship Sampler" designed by Pat. It had been a teaching piece, but Pat has graciously allowed us to distribute this wonderful sampler. For anyone who has stitched her 17th Century Band Sampler, the Friendship Sampler is a nice companion piece to the 17th Century Band Sampler. We will look forward to seeing you, if you can't make it to the shop, we would be happy to ship any items that you would like to purchase.
Got to go and start moving things around in the shop!! We really need a bigger shop!!!  ;-)
Take Care and have a great weekend!
Margaret, Jessie, Amy, Holly, Kacy, Pam and Ann

p.s. Kacy is home from college for the Summer - we are happy to have her back with us for a few months!

     

Halloween Stitching - reserve yours today!!

Just a quick post tonight - wanted you to get a look at the cover of the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Halloween Magazine. We are taking pre orders for this one - from the cover pictures it looks like it will be a fun book to have with alot of neat Halloween themed stitching. Let us know if you want to reserve a copy. They should be in the shop the beginning of July. Have a wonderful evening!!
Take care,

Margaret and the gals at Cecilia's

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!! Everyone at Cecilia's wishes you all a wonderful Mother's Day!! In appreciation of all Moms we are having a Mother's Day sale from Saturday - Monday we will be having a 25% off sale in the shop and on the website!!  All regular priced items will be on sale. We hope you all enjoy the sale and have lots of fun!!
Last month was a busy month for us. We had our 2 spring retreats - lots of new friends were made, alot of good food eaten, stitching day and night and lots of fun!! The retreats are really neat - we get to see what you are all stitching - raise some money for a charity - and spend time with wonderful ladies!! Holly does a fantastic job in organizing these events and the ladies are very appreciative of all Holly's hard work.
My Dad came to visit us from Massachusetts. Cecilia was my Dad's Mom - he is very proud of the shop and comes to see us every year. We had a great time with him here.......he got to visit with his grandkids and great grandkids and even dropped by the retreat to visit and help out!

We have some BIG NEWS!!!!! June 9th we will be welcoming Pat Carson from Designs by Gloria and Pat. We will have the honor of Pat spending the day at Cecilia's with us. She will also be debuting 4 NEW Precious Moments books that she will be releasing this summer. Pat has been a leader in the needlework industry for decades. She still teaches classes all over the world and is the driving force in keeping needlework alive so it can be passed down through the generations. Keep watching the website or check us out on Facebook for more updates.There will be more details coming.........

ROADTRIP!!!!!!  Cecilia's Samplers will be going to CELEBRATIONS in St Charles Missouri. Holly, me and 3 of our helpers (Sharon, Theresa and Sandy) will be transporting a smaller version of Cecilia's to Celebrations in September. It is our first retail roadtrip - we are all very excited about it. If you are near St Charles the end of September, stop by and say "hi" - we'll be happy to see you.  We'll have alot of items that are exclusive to only Cecilia's, free goodies and , of course chocolate!!!

I am going to post some pictures of a few new items in the shop and a couple of recently finished cross stitch pieces.Hope you enjoy them. New knitting needles - spring tulips and "pairs" (rainbow and pot of gold - chicken and egg - cat and ball of yarn). Olde Colonial Designs has 2 new items - a sampler purse, you just do the stitching! and they have a sewing stand, it holds spools of thread and comes with the basket pincushion-you just stitch the top of the pincushion. We also have a little strawberry pincushion set - quick to stitch and finish. We even added the free silk floss to the kit for you!

Hope you enjoy the pictures - have a wonderful weekend!! Enjoy your stitching!!
Take Care,
Margaret and the gals at Cecilia's

A Blessed Easter to you all!!!

Easter Season is upon us and I hope you all are having a great Spring and Easter Season!

We have been getting ready for our Spring Stitching Retreats coming up the next 2 weekends!! Holly has been keeping us all hopping with our assigned tasks. She is the "brains" of our stitching retreats, she is very organized and keep us all on schedule. I have gotten a few things stitched from Nashville the past few weeks........I'll post the pictures on this page.

My Dad will be coming to visit us on the 18th for 2 weeks!! It is always so much fun to get to spend time with my Dad!! Can't wait to see him!! He'll be helping us out with the retreats, too.

Pam's knitting classes are going well...........if you want to learn how to make the popular swirly scarf of just basic knitting sign up for her class. She is an awesome teacher, very patient!!!

Pat Carson's Sisters helping Sisters project is going well here in the shop............She is sending more samplers for us to sell for her girls. The completed samplers are really cute and very reasonably priced ($7.00-$12.00 each). All you have to do is frame of finish into a cube or pillow. And it is for a GREAT Charity!!

We were all saddened to hear that we lost a wonderful designer this past week, Debbie Draper passed away from a heart attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Debbie was here at the shop last Fall for our Fall Stitching Retreat. It was so nice to meet her, and enjoy her company and designs - she was a really neat person.

I need to get going. Hope you and your families have a Blessed Easter!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Take care,

Margaret, Jessie, Amy,Holly, Pam, Cindy , Kacy and Ann

Happy Saint Patrick's Day ( a little early!!)

First we want to thank all of our friends that took the time to call, email, face book, or text to check on us after the tornado that blew through Branson recently. We really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that were sent our way. We were very Blessed in that we all are safe!!

What have we been doing since Market in Nashville???

Stitching - Stitching - and more Stitching!!! and Knitting -Knitting - and Crocheting!!!

Holly and I have been doing the stitching, Pam has been knitting and Jessie has been updating the website with all the new goodies that we have coming into the shop. Beside the new items that we got in Nashville - Pam and I were left in the shop (unattended!! which is nerer good -haha) when our yarn reps came to visit.......sooo.......we have LOTS of new yarns coming in, too!!

Nashville was really GREAT!! So many designers and shop owners were there. Lots of new designs, ideas, threads, scissors, bags........even yarns! We really had a fantastic weekend !!

I am going to post a few pictures for you to check out. We have 2 free patterns - a little bird called "tweet" and a Shepherd's Bush freebie - we have the button packs for both if you'd like to stitch them. We have LHN ornament #2 for 2012 - Tree Farm - quick to stitch- I love the colors and how it is finished.

LHN also has a Nashville exclusive with Shakespeare's Peddler - I' ve got the LHN part of it stitched and am working on the SP part. For those of us that went to Nashville, there is also a bonus chart from LHN in the kit - a wonderful deal 3 charts and threads are included in the kit.

Cherrywood Designs (who will be here in Branson for our Summer Retreat Weekend - -can't wait - they are really fun gals !!) has a really cute snowman kit called "Have a Ball" that Holly stitched. it stitches up really really cute!!

And my final picture is an Old Colonial designs Lavender Sachet Pillow. Everything that you need is in the kit , including lots of lavender (I had enough left over to make a smaller sachet), and the most simple finishing instructions - it's all in the folding - just whip stitch and you're done. And is smells so nice.........

A couple of announcements..................watch for our Saint Patrick's Day sale - instead of "the wearin' of the green" we would like to offer "the saving of the green $$$$$$$"!! Watch for emails or check with us on facebook.

We are working with Pat Carson to help "her girls" in the Phillipines - check out our link to her website for more info. The samplers are really beautiful!!!! and it is a great help to the girls that Pat helps.

Sisters Caring for Sisters
A humanitarian project by Pat Carson
to teach Cross stitch to women in the
Philippines in order for them to earn
money to send their children to school.
Pat (Designs by Gloria & Pat, Inc.) has designed 17 samplers for the women to stitch. She visits the Philippines once a year and collects the samplers stitched by the women (and some men). In December of 2011, Pat brought back over 400 samplers. In order for her to continue her work there, she needs your help in purchasing these samplers. They are inspirational and beautifully stitched….the back is as nice as the front. The samplers are washed, pressed and ready to mount and frame. The samplers make wonderful gifts. Visit this link (may need to copy and paste) to see all the samplers and to contact Pat.
http://www.gloria-pat.com/webpages/scfs1.html

Got to get going........hope you are all well and safe. Enjoy your stitching time. Hope to see you soon in the shop.

Take Care,

Margaret, Jessie, Amy, Pam, Holly, Cindy and Ann

Off we go to Nashville!!!

Next week at this time we will be in Nashville for the wholesale Needlework Show!!! Holly, Jessie and I will be going. Pam, Cindy and Amy will be in Branson keeping Cecilia's running. Jessie will be updating our Facebook page with Nashville previews this week, so if you see anything that you would like us to pick up for you, just let us know. And on Monday February 27th we will have our Market Day at Cecilia's! The shop will be full with all kinds of new goodies to enhance your stashes. Drop by and check it out - we'll be looking forward to seeing you!

I've got a couple of quick pictures to show you. I am still working on The Petite Sampling Etui - a limited edition collaboration. It has been in my "rotation" for a while so i am happy to be getting it stitched. The colors are so much prettier that the picture.

For our friend, Carol in Illinois, I am including a picture of Pam's completed Witches Wheel. Pam really enjoyed stitching this piece - the solar fabric really makes it unique!!

And for all of you scissor people......we all know who we are ;-) ..........we received some new scissors into the shop today. They are made by Bohin of France. Beautifully made with a "stained glass" design on the handles. A wonderful addition to anyone's scissor collection or needlework bag!

I've got to get going , hope you all have a wonderful week. Enjoy your stitching time!

Take Care,

Margaret, Jessie,Amy, Pam, Holly, Cindy and Ann

the new yarns are here!!!

Happy February!!!

It is Superbowl Weekend and the New England Patriots are in the game!! Life is GOOD!!!

I thought I would take a few minutes to update the blog in between customers in the shop. We are having a Superbowl Sale this weekend, so we have been really busy in the shop, on the phone and online.

Got some quick updates for you.........the new yarns are here!!! We have so many new colors and specialty yarns to choose from. Yes, we are all knitting and crocheting the "twirly" scarves. But for those of you that do not knit or crochet - we have a knotted scarf that can be made with scrap yarns ( Cindy modeled it for you!!). Pam will be starting Knitting classes - so come by and join in the fun!! We also hage 2 tubs of 50% discounted yarns........come in and check them out - we caught Cindy "playing in the yarn"!

We have also gotten alot of new Tatting supplies - shuttles, books and threads. We expanded the tatting section in the shop. Our Stamped cross stitch, crewel, needlepoint and embroidery has recieved ALOT of new kits, iron ons, quilt squares, doilies, quilt squares and baby items.......come by and check it out!

Pam has been knitting up a storm with all the new yarns, so we have new models in the yarn department. Jessie, Ann and I have been stitching - Ann finished her Man of the Month snowmen - they are all so cute - one for each month of the year. Jessie just finished and framed the new Lizzie Kate Valentine Kit - it is a quick stitch and looks so pretty with all the pastel spring colors. I have finished the new Little House Christmas Ornament ( first one for 2012)Blessed (it's an adorable angel) trimmed with Crescent Colors Chennille. And I am also working on a Petite Sampling Etui - a collaboration of Sampler designers charts that will be finished into a Etui (sewing box).

Holly has been busy putting the finishing touches on the Spring Retreat Weekends - it is a Mardi Gras theme - she has lots of fun games and goodies for the ladies attending. You won't be disappointed!!

I've got to get going.........more orders to fill and customers to help!! Enjoy the weekend!!

GO PATS!!!

We look forward to visiting with you all when you come by the shop!

Take Care,

Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Holly, Cindy and Ann